Hold open rods are well known in both the automotive and aviation industries. Hold open rods may be used to hold a door or hatch open after the door or hatch has been opened manually or automatically. Hold open rods may support a considerable amount of weight depending on the type of door being held open. It is desired that the rods function correctly and do not malfunction when supporting this weight.
Generally, hold open rods may include two cylindrical, telescoping tubes with an inner tube located inside of an outer tube. Alternatively, hold open rods may include two tubes having a square cross-section, hexagonal cross-section, or the like. When in a stowed position, the inner tube is located almost entirely within the outer tube. When in use, the inner tube may be extended to a designated position in order to hold open the door. In the extended position, the tubes may be locked in place in order to hold the door open. A lock mechanism may be used to prevent the inner tube from retracting into the outer tube.
A hold open rod may require more than one maintenance personnel to operate. This increases costs to end-users and complicates the operation of the hold open rod. Some one-man operational designs require an external remote release mechanism, which greatly complicates the design.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have a hold open rod with a simple lock mechanism that may be operated by a single user. In particular, it is desirable to have a simple lock mechanism that is entirely self-contained within the hold open rod.